Second World
by k.u.r.e.y.u.k.u
Summary: Lightning gets roped into playing the newest virtual reality game, Second World, thanks to her sister and Snow. Humoring them, she logs in not knowing that there's more going on in the game than meets the eye. And now there's no backing out. .:: AU ::.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I'm only going to say this once, because it's pretty obvious. I don't own Final Fantasy 13 or its characters.

Cover art is **©Pacific-Flare **on **DeviantArt**

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_'I hate video games,' _Lightning thought to herself as she put the virtual reality mask over her eyes, blocking out all light and leaving her in darkness.

So why was she alone at home, in bed, at eight in the evening, preparing to play one of the newest and most anticipated games that had yet to come out? It was a question she had been asking herself ever since she had obtained the game.

The answer she came up with was always the same.

_'It's that idiot Snow's fault.'_

Approximately one hour ago, Snow and Serah were leaving after having their bi-weekly dinner together; something Serah insisted on doing since she got married and moved out. They had all walked out to Snow's car, and after saying her goodbyes she was turning to go back to her house when Snow told her to wait a moment.

Turning around she waited patiently while he rummaged in the back seat, letting out a cliché 'ah-ha!' when he found what he was searching for. He came around the car, semi large box in hand and grin plastered on his face. It was fairly dark out so she couldn't exactly see what was on it, but she was skeptical about it nonetheless. She'd learned over the years to be wary of any gift the big man had decided to give to her.

"Here ya go, sis!" he said far too enthusiastically for her liking.

"What's this, Snow. It's not something impractical, is it?" she asked, voice stern; eyes glaring at the box as if she could scare it into being something she'd appreciate, though the chances of it actually being such a thing were slim.

"Eh, heh," was his sheepish reply as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, balancing the box in one hand. Bringing his hand back to the box, he held it out towards her. She took it from him, being as wary as if she were handling a bomb. Finally it was close enough and from what she could see from the box, it was some sort of visor. Her eyes wandered to the words on the box. _'Second World- New Virtual Reality Game! Create your own avatar and become a Hero!'_

Snow continued when she looked back up to him, one eyebrow raised and wearing a look that clearly asked him to elaborate why she was holding this. "Well, you know that new game we've been working on? Well, this is it! Serah and I thought you might want to play."

From the way he was talking, she was pretty sure he could tell how she felt about receiving a video game as a gift. However, there was no real reason to constitute her actually getting a gift so with a grimace she accepted the box out of gratitude. She wasn't so heartless that she would deny the gift – even if she'd never play it – especially if Serah had wanted her to have it as well. She glanced at Serah who just nodded her head, a smile on her face as well.

"This game isn't supposed to be out yet though, right? Why are you giving it to me," she inquired, actually slightly curious. Though she didn't approve of her sister marrying a game designer, it payed the bills somehow so she couldn't rightly complain. And since she didn't complain, Serah often took that as reason enough to talk about his job whenever they were together and conversation was lacking.

"Haha, yeah it's not out! Isn't that cool, you get to be one of the first people to play, along with everyone who worked on it and their families! You'll probably even get your desired user-name!"

Once again one of her eyebrows arched. "And what's so special about having my desired user-name?"

Snow looked at her incredulously. "Wow, sis, I know you don't like video games much, but come on? A game like this is bound to have millions of players; it's the _very first _virtual reality game! Do you know how hard it'll be to get a good user-name after people start buying it at stores?"

"Yeah, right now you could probably even get the name Lightning if you wanted!" Serah piped in as she opened the car door and stepped out, probably realizing that the conversation would be longer than she anticipated.

Lightning let out an exasperated sigh, scratched between her eyes, and then let her forehead rest on her hand. "You're talking as if I plan on playing this game. I really am grateful for your thoughts but you _both_ know I don't play video games."

Serah looked at Snow and then at the ground, a frown marring her face. Lightning felt her heart tug slightly at the act, but she wouldn't give in just like that.

Then she heard it. A soft sniffle. Her eyes widened as she watched her sister turn around and bring her hands to her face. "Claire, I just wanted to spend more time with you," she half sobbed, her body slouching.

Maneuvering the box under one of her arms, she reached out with the other and set it on her shoulder. "Serah..." She looked to the left to see if Snow would help at all, but he was wearing a frown too and for once said nothing. _'Huh, figures. He talks all the time when I want him to shut up, but when I finally want him to say something, the only language he knows is silence.'_

"Fine," was all she said after a few moments of inner speculation. If it would cheer her sister up she'd play about an hour of the game and then quit, claiming it 'not her thing'. It's what she always did when her sister got her to do something she didn't want to do. Like those dance lessons she had been forced into taking. All she could say was that she would never set foot in a dance hall ever again.

Serah's posture lighted up almost instantly and she twirled around, a smile on her face and her eyes sparkling. "Really Claire? That's so great!" She rushed forward and pulled Lightning into a tight hug. "It's so much fun, you'll love it! I just know it! It feels so real, it's crazy!"

Awkwardly she hugged Serah back with one arm, the box still clutched under her other. "You've already played it? And what do you mean it feels real?"

"Oh yeah, but just a little bit before we came over today. I actually spent most of my time creating my character; you wouldn't believe the choices they give you for that sort of thing. You know, they just handed them out this afternoon so you're getting it really really _really_ early. Of course, I would never miss our dinner though, even for a game."

Snow interjected after Serah had finished with a giggle, pulling away from the hug finally. "To your other question, it's really awesome! We've worked really hard and with the virtual reality visor, you can feel 99.9% of all that's happening. Like for instance if you were to have a picnic, you'd be able to taste the food and feel the wind on your face. Not pain, though. There are laws about that, or something."

"Why would I ever want to have a picnic in a game?"

Snow gave her another look, like he couldn't understand her logic. "Well. It's called Second World, you're able to do just about anything in it, and it's like an actual second life for you."

"That doesn't really answer my question, Snow, but whatever," she digressed. It didn't really matter to her what his logic was on having picnics in a game. With a grimace she asked her next question, slightly appalled that she even had that many about the subject. "So how does this work exactly?"

Serah took over once again, her eyes still sparkling and smile still intact. "Inside the box is a visor that you put on, and that's it! Just cover your eyes and turn it on. It'll put you in a REM state, so basically it's like you're dreaming, and this also means that you can play while you sleep; not disrupting your daily life at all while still being able to play!" _'Dangit. Well there goes one of my excuses for weaseling out of playing this. - No time.'_

"So... I just put it on and press the power button? And that's it?" Nods from both Snow and Serah were her only answer.

With another sigh she looked at the ground and then back up. "Okay. I guess... I'll try it out tonight." Serah let out a squeal and leaned in for another hug, but Lightning put her hand forward stopping her. "_But, _if I don't like it I'm _not_ going to keep playing. Got it?"

Serah looked a little dejected, but her smile never left. She was probably thankful that Lightning was going to play at all. "Fine. But like I said, I _know_ you'll like it, Claire."

Slowly, Lightning brought her hand back and Serah finally got to hug her. "Snow and I will be waiting for you! We wont do anything so we can all be the same level and work our way up together, okay?" Looking down, she looked into Serah's big eyes, practically willing her to agree. All she could manage to say was a quick 'sure', and then she let go and stepped back, ready to end this and go back inside.

Opening the passenger door to the car, Serah gave one last look at Lightning before saying goodbye and getting in and waving through the window. Snow doing the same; going to the drivers seat and opening the door. Before he got in, he looked back to Lightning, regular goofy smile on his face. "Our names are Snow and Serah in game; yeah, we know. Not very original. Make sure you pick the central continent for starting out in! See you tonight, Sis!"

And then she was back in her room, visor over her eyes. She had been procrastinating. Denying it would be pointless. She didn't really have anything to do, but she didn't want to go to bed just yet. Or rather, she didn't want to play yet. Then again, she couldn't really _not_ log in. Serah said she would be waiting, and while she was probably not yet playing the game, her character still needed to be created.

Cautiously, she brought her hand up to the side of the visor and pressed her finger over the power button. She planned on just quickly creating a character – it didn't matter what it looked like, she wouldn't be using it for long.

As soon as the thing had powered up she was showered with a bright light; blinding after being used to the darkness of the visor. Bringing her arm up to cover her eyes from the sudden contrast, she thought bitterly, _'If it's like this every time you start up the game, I feel for those kids who will do this every night. Their eyes'll be shot before they even get out of school.'_

Her hand fell and she opened her eyes fully. Looking around she noted she was in something akin to the interior of a large empty cube. Nothing but white wherever she looked. Slowly she took a step forward, but as soon as her foot touched the ground an image appeared in front of her.

Jumping back she glared daggers at the picture, as if it could feel fear. Tonight, it seemed, she had a thing for leering at inanimate objects – first the box, then the visor after she opened the box, and now this image.

Taking a closer look, she realized it was a three dimensional woman, not really a picture at all, like she had assumed. Lightning stood up straight, not realizing until now that she had tensed up, and lessened the intensity of her gaze. After a few moments she cleared her throat, and when still nothing happened she stepped forward again.

This got a reaction, and she was starting to see a pattern. The woman turned her gaze on Lightning and began talking in a calm and warm fashion. "Welcome to Second Life, I'm here to help along your character creation. First, a warning. Please make sure that while playing the game you are in a safe area, and that by closing off your senses are not putting yourself in harms way. Do you understand?"

Lightning slowly gave a nod, unsure if it would acknowledge the gesture. It, fortunately, did and continued with it's speech. "On to character creation. Each person is allowed only one character, as to make the game more realistic, so make sure that the avatar you make is suitable. All choices made now cannot be undone." Suddenly, Lightning understood why Serah had taken her sweet time making a character. "Next, we base all characters off of their real life players – your own – appearances, though in some cases it's not visible.

"We here at 'Second World Inc' are proud of our variety when it comes to making your character. Would you like a list of all the races? There are over 500, but if you would like to look at a specific group that is fine as well. There are no advantages, or disadvantages, to any particular race.

"Whenever you are ready, please specify which race you wish to see yourself as; or several different races if you are unsure of your preferences."

Lightning took in and absorbed everything the woman had said. Really, she just wanted to hurry it up. This was becoming unnecessarily difficult.

It was then that she realized she was supposed to say something; pick her race. She stood still and stared at the woman, neither of them moving. Lightning felt like an idiot, her mind bumbling around to come up with a suitable race. _'This is so stupid, why does it matter.'_ "Just show me the most common ones."

With a wave of the woman's arm, five different 'Lightnings' appeared in front of her in a row. She was slightly prepared for something to jump out at her, but this still alarmed her and her body became high strung for a moment before relaxing. She looked over all of them, starting from the left and going right, scrutinizing every aspect.

The first one, she noted, looked exactly like her aside from the clothing. It, along with the others, was covered in shapes of cloth and leather. It seemed that all the vital points were layered with leather, such as the legs, stomach, and chest, while everything else was common cotton. Aside from that, it was sort of frightening; like looking in a mirror that didn't reflect what she did. It was also a bit unnerving to see herself unmoving – not even seeming to breathe.

Next to that, was another one that looked almost identical, and unless you looked carefully it was hard to notice and differences. The body was a bit more lean, and the ears were pointed, but that's all she could discern from her vantage point.

It was once she made it to the one in the middle that she noticed a stark difference. This particular 'Lightning' was taller than the others, or at least appeared so, with two large rabbit looking ears pointing straight up in the air. The face was more drawn, and her nails were sharper. It's feet were also very strange looking, and not in a way that particularly appealed to her.

Moving on, the fourth one was strange but ultimately much better than the bunny-hybrid. It looked similar to the first one, the only difference being pointy cat ears and a long tail sprouting from behind it.

Once she reached the end she had to do a double take. It looked _absolutely nothing_ like the others. Not in a terrible way, but not in a good way either. Perhaps it was a bit insulting considering it was based off of her, but otherwise she found it to be rather cute. It reminded her of a plushie that Serah used to have when she was a child. On closer inspection it really did look like a stuffed toy, with a small white body and unusually large pink nose, framed by puffy cheeks dusted pink, and scrunched up eyes. On the top of it's head were two ears and in the middle was a large antenna with a pink crystal on the top. "What on Cocoon is that?" she muttered under her breath.

The woman heard her mumbling and spoke up, waking Lightning from her reveries. Gently she raised her arm to point at the first one Lightning had overlooked. "Human." Her hand inched over to the second. "Elvaan." Third. "Viera." Fourth. "Mithra." And finally fifth, the one that had been originally asked about. "Moogle."

Lightning mentally slapped herself. _'Human. How could I have overlooked that when considering a race. I've just wasted about fifteen minutes because I couldn't think of _human_. This must be why Serah took so long._ "Human, please."

"Very well," the woman responded, and with a wave of her hand all but the twin-like 'Lightning' disappeared. "Would you like to change any physical attributes? Though it is based off of you, you can still change smaller things like the hair length and style, along with body proportions and starting clothes – nothing too fancy there, though."

"No, I'm fine. It's fine." Lightning tersely replied, getting quickly agitated with all the questions.

"Would you like to see yourself as any particular class? Although you start out without a job, we will allow you to see how your character would look in every classes late game armor."

"No." Lightnings eyebrow twitched slightly.

"Do you have any questions about classes?"

"No."

"Very well then, second to last on the list-" Lightning exhaled sharply, "-we need your user-name." A floating opaque rectangle appeared in front of her and she eyed it suspiciously. "Please write your characters name here in your signature. Make sure you can duplicate it because your signature will be how we verify it is you when you start up your visor." Extending her arm, she wrote out her signature with her finger – '_Lightning'_ – . When she withdrew her hand, the rectangle disappeared.

"Finally," _'Finally indeed, you insufferable woman.'_ "Please pick a starting continent. There are five; North, South, East, West, and Central. Once you pick your starting continent, you will be teleported that particular continents starting town."

Recalling what Snow had told her before they'd left she quickly responded with, "Central" before tapping her foot, waiting for... well, whatever was going to happen now.

Suddenly she was surrounded by glowing blue and green particles.

"Congratulations on making your character, we hope you enjoy playing 'Second World.'" the woman said with a smile on her face.

As Lightning was being consumed by the lights, she couldn't help but feel a little bad for calling the woman insufferable. Just a little, though, seeing as the woman probably had no emotions anyways.

Finally, after she had been submerged completely, she was hit with a blast from the side, knocking the wind out of her and causing her to tumble to the side. She had assumed that the light wouldn't have any ground, but she couldn't have been more wrong. With an 'oof' she hit the ground, a sharp object jarring her chest and causing her eye to water from the sting. She had blinked to erase the moistness, but when she opened them again there was no more bright light. Instead she was inside a building that looked oddly like a temple. Standing up, she couldn't help but feel bitter. _'Argh, what the hell, I thought Snow said you couldn't feel pain.'_ She glowered down at the ground, searching for her assaulter as she gingerly pressed a hand against her side. Her eyes came across a sharp looking rock and her eyes narrowed. '_What's a rock doing inside a building anyways. Stupid game.'_

Gathering her bearings she looked around carefully. The walls were a smooth tan brick, forming a dome with a single opening – a hallway – leading to large wooden double doors. All along the walls were torches set into sconces. _'How medieval.' _she the middle of the round room was a strange looking machine. It sat on a small circular platform with a bar coming from the floor and ending when it met a small globe that glowed like the lights she had just been absorbed in. Around the light, two rings were rotating, each in a different direction. She didn't bother going up to it, she wasn't sure what it would do and she wasn't really prepared to find out.

From the platform, leading into the hallway, was a long black carpet which stood in stark contrast to the lightness of everything else. Even the platform was a coppery color. She walked towards the carpet, and once on it, faced the double doors at the end of the hallway.

Letting out a deep sigh, she strode towards them pausing only a moment before throwing them open and looking at what lay before her.

_'This is going to be a long night.'_

* * *

_**A/N:** Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed that. I don't have another chapter written yet, but if anybody, even a single person, expresses interest then writing up another chapter wont be a difficult thing because I'm pretty much in love with this plot._

_If you couldn't tell yet, this is a little bit of a mash-up between FF-XIII and .Hack/Sword Art Online, though only the setting will be similar to .Hack/SAO. It is **not** a crossover, so don't expect any characters unless they're from FF-XIII. {Or random-unimportant-nobody-characters} Also, I want this to have a secondary genre of romance, but I'm not sure if that would make more or less people read. It'd be with Hope or nobody - let me know what you think of that._

_Feel free to comment if you liked it, or even if you didn't. Also, I don't hate it when people fave/follow me either. I'd love to hear from you all! Until next time –_

_k.u.r.e_


	2. Chapter 2

The oaken doors of the temple creaked open as if from misuse. Lightning watched through shafts of light as several small white birds flew away at a frantic pace, startled from their peaceful resting. As her eyes adjusted, she had to wonder where exactly she was. The doors opened onto a long bridge, seemingly made of the same tan brick that the temple she'd just come out of was made of, though with a few more speckles of black and dark brown here and there. To either side of the bridge were an oceans worth of water, and try as she might to see how far the large body of liquid went in any direction it all disappeared into the horizon. She took a few tentative steps forward causing the doors behind her to close on their own with a large boom that reverberated through the empty air. Lightning whipped her head back to look at it curiously as a small breeze floated by, caressing her skin and gently tousling her hair.

_'Well,'_ she thought to herself as she turned her back on the closed doors. _'At least Snow didn't lie to me about the realism of the game.' _In front of her, as far as she could tell, was simply brick after brick leading into the distance. One look at the length of the bridge was enough to have her desiring to log out, and she hadn't even done anything in the game yet. Turning around once more she paced back to the door and reached forward only to freeze suddenly when she realized there were no handles on it. _'What the hell, how am I supposed to get back in if the damn doors don't have a handle on them!'_ she seethed in her head. With a closed fist she punched at the door, pleased that unlike with the rock her hand didn't hurt afterward. Which, she realized as an afterthought, was serendipitous since she hadn't considered any of the possible ramifications when she'd carelessly taken her frustration out on the smooth barked door.

With a scoff and a wrinkling of her nose she turned on her heel and stalked forward, further out onto the bridge that seemed endless. Crossing her arms over her breasts, she made her way into the unknown. She wasn't particularly fond of doing so, however, as it seemed incredibly pointless to her. Could she not simply rendezvous with her sister and Snow already so she could tell them she didn't like this game and that she had no intentions of ever playing it again? She knew in the back of her head that she could simply log out of the game and be done with it, but a promise was a promise and she never liked breaking them, especially when it came to Serah.

After several minutes of walking and no change of the scenery in front of her she let out a sigh and looked off to the side. She hadn't paid much attention to the views in the distance before now, but since she assumed she'd be on this cursed bridge for awhile she might as well do something to pass the time. To her left she could see several mountains rising far into the sky, their tips obscured by clouds that seemed to float in place. They were so far away she couldn't tell any distinct features about them besides the fact that they were large and quite obviously mountains. To her right was nothing but water, stretching into the distance and going on forever as far as Lightning knew. Despite the lack of anything but water, the view was still quite breathtaking. For a game they certainly made everything look incredibly real and that included the water. It seemed to sparkle and glow from the sun that was set low in the sky. Of course, if anyone asked her she'd tell them that it was nothing spectacular.

She'd lost herself staring into the crystalline waves as they moved and swayed thanks to the constant slight breeze in the air. For a moment she considered jumping into the water, just to see if she could, but with no way back up onto the bridge she deemed it a ridiculous idea and banished it from her mind. With an over-exaggerated sigh she looked ahead of her for the first time in several minutes. No change, unfortunately. She slowed her pace until she made it to an eventual stop. This was absurd! There was no way this was normal, even for a game. Turning around she was hardly surprised to note that she could barely see the temple she'd arrived in off in the distance. If she hadn't actually known it was there it would probably seem nothing more than a mirage or trick of the eye.

Letting out a growl of frustration she willed a main menu to show itself to her. She didn't like playing video games, but she knew enough about them that they all had some sort of pause or menu button. She was pleasantly surprised when an opaque square showed up in front of her face, not dissimilar to the one that she'd signed her name on when creating her character. This one, however, had multiple different words and writing on it, denoting the different things each button did. She raised her hand and pressed hard on the button that said 'Character Information.' It did as she wanted it to, however her hand phased through it and put her off balance. _'Right. Light taps only, even if you're pissed off,'_ she reminded herself with a nod.

Another screen popped up over the last one, with a diagram of herself and several different slots for equipment. Off to the side were her stats and a button that went to skills, neither of which she cared to look at for the moment. Clicking a large 'X' in the top right corner of that screen, it disappeared and she was left back at the main menu. _'How do I get the hell out of here?'_ she wondered as she perused the multiple buttons at her disposal. None of them seemed like they'd help her out except for the 'Log Off' button. It was taunting her, willing her to click on it and end this whole situation. She didn't want to break a promise to Serah, but surely she would understand. It's not like she hadn't given the game a try, after all. In fact she'd given it much more of a shot than she had any other game she'd ever played and that was really saying something.

The more she thought of how it would all play it out, the more appealing logging out sounded. With a smirk, she raised her finger to press the button to log out only to be stopped by the sudden shaking of the bridge beneath her. Her smirk fell as fast as her hand did as she looked down at the ground, surprised at what was happening. It felt like an earthquake was happening right beneath her. She stumbled over to the edge of the bridge and grabbed onto the raised edge to help her stay standing. Off to her side she heard the noise of rock grating on rock and nearly gave herself whiplash she moved her neck so fast to see what was causing it. She was astonished to see a good chunk of bridge crack and break off. It fell into the water below with a crash, causing water to splash so high she could actually see it from where she was standing.

With wide eyes she pushed herself away from the edge of the bridge and started running back towards the temple. She wasn't sure if it would be safe there but it was safer than in the middle of the bridge, that was for sure. Running wasn't very easy on such unstable ground, but she somewhat managed to keep herself from tripping. It was also helpful that she didn't feel any strain on her body while doing this – aside from the adrenaline and the shakiness she might as well have been going for a leisurely jog. She was incredibly disheartened when even after running as fast as she could for well over a minute the temple wasn't moving closer. In fact, she might even say it seemed to be getting further and further away.

Taking a chance she turned her head so that she could see behind her out of the corner of her eye. They widened and she hastily resumed facing in front of her, quickening her pace as much as she could. There was hardly any bridge behind her, it seemed to have all fallen into the water leaving only rubble behind. It was also slowly – ever so slowly – catching up to her. If she lulled for even a moment she was sure it would be the end of her. Theoretically speaking of course, since this was a game. Still, the prospect of falling and hurting herself was fresh in her mind, especially as she remembered the rock when she first logged in. Only this time it wasn't just a rock in her side, it was her life.

Suddenly, and seemingly out of nowhere, a crack began to form several meters in front of her, slowly snaking its way across the brick from one edge to the other. The ground underneath her wobbled from side to side, as if it were being blown by the wind and Lightning's breath caught in her throat. She needed to make it past that crack before the bridge snapped and she was left with nowhere else to go but down. With as much force as she could she propelled herself forward in a jump, just as the ground she'd been standing on tilted to the side. She flew through the air in what felt like slow motion, forcing her virtual body to go to its limits and make the jump. She was almost there, she could feel it – practically taste it – but just as she was about to put her foot down, the spot she planned to land on crumbled and fell into the sea, and her hopes with it.

Her heart stopped as her foot barely grazed the edge of the bridge and her body continued its descent. She reached her hands forward trying to grapple onto something that her foot could not, but all she managed to do was get two fistfuls of crumbling stone. She let her fists unclench as she fell, her throat so constricted that she couldn't scream even if she'd tried. Her last hope was that she wouldn't feel anything when she hit a broken off piece of brick, or perhaps if she were lucky simply the water would break her fall.

Those worries were her last thoughts as her body was enveloped in water. The impact was hardly felt by Lightning, but as soon as the water touched her skin it was like she couldn't move. She would have been panicking if it hadn't also made her mind work sluggishly. She couldn't think, couldn't move, and she simply sank further and further into the depths of the water. Her eyes closed after nearly a minute, but instead of a never ending abyss of black she was blinded by a rose colored orb of light. It was warm and inviting, enticing her to step into its embrace. Oh how she wanted to, it was such a nice feeling, but she couldn't make her body respond and the entity wasn't coming any closer.

It started to slowly fade away, as if it didn't want to go but wasn't welcome any longer. Eventually the bright light was just a dull illumination, and soon enough Lightning was plunged into darkness.

* * *

With a start, Lightning awoke from unconsciousness; her body convulsing and attempting to cough up water that wasn't there to be coughed up. After opening her eyes upon the initial awakening she had closed them nearly immediately due to the unnatural white light surrounding her once again. She was really getting tired of the blinding lights in this game. It wasn't safe and was incredibly annoying. Snow was going to have an earful of her complaints the next time she saw him, which may be soon seeing as she was apparently still in the game.

Gingerly she opened her eyes, blinking rapidly and letting them adjust to the brightness. Bringing her hands up to her stomach she pressed down on it, trying to get it to calm down. Once her eyes were used to the light she moved her head around, peering into the light to discern if there was anything else out there. There wasn't. At least she could move her body now though, so that was a plus. Now that her mind wasn't working at a snail's pace she could recall nearly everything about being submerged in the water. It was truly terrifying to feel like you were drowning and being unable to do anything about it, not to mention that at the time she hadn't even known that was what was happening.

Soon enough her stomach calmed down and stopped painfully spasming enough for her to take her hand off of it. She brought her newly freed appendage to her forehead, wiping off a light sheen of sweat and pushing her bangs to the side. Now she needed a course of action to get out of this obscenely white prison. Unsure of what exactly to do she took a few strides forward and, lo and behold, the light began to recede and was replaced with a visually similar room to the temple she'd started out in, though with a few more touches added. The carpet that lead from the strange object in the middle of the room to the exit of the room was, instead of black, a deep and rich blue color with a golden trim. To the left of the large doors was a small kiosk with a strange looking creature standing behind it. If Lightning recalled correctly, it was called a moogle. She wasn't sure what the point of the stand was, but she assumed it sold things seeing as behind it were shelves of strange looking items and there was a cash register on the counter next to the animal. Moving her gaze to the right of the doors she noted a similar looking shop with a varying amount of items in the background. The only real difference was the color of the moogle – this one was a light brown while the other was almost completely white.

_'Right, well that makes sense now that I've actually given thought to it. Things won't change if I don't move forward. The door closed behind me, the light disappeared. I'll keep that in mind for future reference. Not like I'll need it, though.'_ Lightning thought to herself as she made her way down the blue carpet. Now that it seemed she was _actually_ in the right place, she supposed she'd give meeting Serah another chance, though all she really wanted was to have this done and over with. She steered clear of the kiosks for the moment, not wanting to get anywhere near them. After the way this whole thing started she wasn't sure she could entirely trust anything, especially things that were actually moving. Anxiously she made her way to the doors, eyes glancing between the two moogles the whole time. So far they acted like they hadn't noticed her and if she had any say about it they wouldn't give her any attention at all.

Once she was at the door she raised her hands and placed them on the smooth wood. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, praying to the Maker that this would not turn out the same as last time. With a burst of energy she put force behind her arms and pushed the doors open, opening her eyes in the process. A pleased sigh escaped her parted lips, unbeknownst to her. Laid out in front of her was a decently large staircase that lead to a huge fountain set in the middle of a plaza like area. There was a statue placed in the center of said fountain of a hooded figure with a sword planted on the ground in front of it. From where Lightning stood she couldn't see much more about it. Up close she was sure it had much more detail.

On the edge of the plaza were multiple different roads and also several buildings. Where the roads led or what was housed inside of the buildings were both mysteries to Lightning and at the moment she was completely content with her lack of knowledge. At her current vantage point she couldn't see much else of the town, but she did note several people milling around. They mostly congregated around the fountain, however a few had branched off and were walking off in different directions.

Growing tired of simply standing and observing, Lightning stepped forward and walked down the steps that lead the the plaza. The doors closed slowly and quietly behind her, making hardly a sound, and was entirely ignored by Lightning as she continued on her way. She figured that Snow and Serah would still be waiting for her – surely she hadn't been delayed that long – but they'd never specified where exactly they would be waiting. This area that seemed to be bustling with people seemed like a perfect spot though. Hopefully it wouldn't become too crowded and she'd be unable to find her sister in the throng of people.

She was almost at the end of the long staircase when, over the noise caused by everyone else in the area, she heard a loud yell. A very familiar loud yell to be precise.

"Sis!" it said in an exuberant voice. "Hey Sis, we're over here!" It was then that a loud smack and the mumblings of a female were heard making the voice yelp out 'Ow!' and finally stop shouting. Lightning rolled her eyes and made her way in the direction of the voice, passing by several people who gave her no mind. It wasn't long before both Snow and Serah came into view, both of them looking nearly identical to their normal appearances. Lightning could really care less, but she was thankful that Snow hadn't chosen a strange looking creature to play as seeing as he already looked stupid enough.

Snow was holding one of his hands up to the opposite shoulder, rubbing it gently and Serah was standing with her body cocked to the side and hands on her hips. It was obvious she was buzzing with excitement, and Snow was simply happy that she was happy.

"Light, I'm so glad you finally made it!" Serah exclaimed, hopping up to Lightning and placing her arms around her in a hug. Lighting reciprocated the gesture, giving a small pat to Serah's back before breaking the embrace and stepping back. Serah followed suit.

"You guys weren't waiting... that long for me, were you?" she ventured to ask, unsure of exactly how long it had been.

This time it was Snow who spoke up, stepping forward to also give Lightning a hug. She took a step back and gave him a pointed look, letting him know that if he even so much as touched her he'd lose a hand. Sheepishly he gave a smile and turned the motion of his arm into a wave. "Nah, Sis, we weren't waiting that long. Serah's just excited that you're actually going to play a game with her for once. I've got to say, I'm surprised you're actually here too. Also, nice. You stayed as a human. Serah and I decided to be Elvaan. How do you like our ears?" He lifted his hand to his ear and gave it a flick, showing off it's pointed tip.

Lightning crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow. She wasn't going to say anything to him as a response. He knew just as well as she and Serah did that she could never deny the request of her sister. Not to mention he should know by now that she wouldn't encourage his childish behavior. Turning her gaze to Serah after a few moments she opted to speak instead of let the silence continue.

"So, I'm here. Now what?" she asked. She truly had no idea what to do from here. Not once had she played a single game like this or had the patience to watch another. Sure she'd heard some kids talk about similar games but she'd never payed the conversation much attention, thinking the topic frivolous and uninteresting. Yet, here she was, wishing she'd paid at least a little bit of attention.

"Well," Serah started, ignoring the fact that Lightning had ignored Snow, and raised a hand to her face, her elbow cupped in her other hand. Tapping her cheek with her index finger she thought about what they could do. Eventually she seemed to come up with something and her eyes seemed to spark. "Snow and I haven't really done a whole lot in the city yet, so why don't we go and explore a little bit!" She turned her gaze on Snow and gave him a dazzling smile.

"Sure," he responded, smiling back at her. "I know most of the layout already, so I can show you guys where everything is and what it's used for."

"Great! Then it's settled!" Serah said, grabbing Lightning's hand and pulling her close. "Then let's get going. Lead the way, Snow!"

"Your wish is my command," he said with a wink before turning to the fountain and moving so he stood next to it. Serah followed, dragging Lightning behind who apparently had no say in the matter. Though, really, she didn't have any better suggestions. Still, this _did _mean she'd have to listen to what Snow was saying. Or did it? She wasn't going to need to know this information later. Oh well, she'd humor the big lug for now.

As soon as the two women were close enough, Snow cleared his throat. "Well, let's start with this statue, here. There's nothing inherently special about it aside from what it signifies in the games history. That, plus it's obviously the main attraction of the plaza we're in right now. This man, unnamed in the history texts, is famous for challenging and defeating one of the older Gods. I wont get so much into the back story of the game for right now, since that could take awhile to go through, but the short story is that this guy's a total bad-ass. He used the powers he was given by the Gods to actually beat one, and then the rest of the Gods allowed him to transcend into an ethereal being himself. Before you think, 'Oh, he's a total asshole,' he's really not. The God he destroyed was famous for playing cruel and ruthless games with creatures of lesser power." The short tale was surprisingly interesting to Lightning and she'd ended up giving him most of her attention. Serah seemed to be soaking up every word he said as well.

"So why doesn't he have a name?" Serah finally asked.

"Well, he did – does – have a name. Just, nobody really knows it. Whether it was him, another God, or a totally different thing that erased all knowledge of his name nobody knows either. Still, it's quite interesting. Most of the people at work simply refer to him as 'The Hood,' obviously because of the hood hiding his features."

"He sounds mysterious," Serah said in awe, moving closer and reaching out to touch the statue. Unfortunately her arms weren't long enough to reach and she pulled back, a pout on her face. Lightning let a small smirk grow on her face at the act, but soon enough it fell.

"So," she then said, directed at Snow. "What next?"

"Right, sorry. Well that building you came out of earlier is the 'Temple of Teleportation.' I know, I know, it's not very original, but it makes it easier for others to know what it's purpose is. I'm sure while you were in there you saw a strange looking invention in the middle of the room. That's actually what you use to go to different places. It's the only way to enter or leave an area and go to another. In the middle of the thing is a small globe with a teleportation stone floating in it's epicenter. It shines and makes the whole thing really cool looking. Anyways, we'll actually get more into that once we decide to go somewhere. Right now we're just focusing on the town. Any questions so far?"

When neither of the sisters spoke up, he continued. "Well, after you exit there, there's obviously a long staircase which will put you here in the plaza. This place is where the quest board is – it's right on the other side of the statue – and the purpose of that is to pick up quests from NPCs. The amount that are there and the kinds of quests vary by the ever changing story of the game so it'd probably be useful to check back there often or you might miss one. Aside from the quest board, this area is intended to be a place for player owned shops. You can sell items you find while exploring to other players who might need it. There's also an auction house, but we're hoping that player shops prosper since it allows for more interaction between those who are playing the game."

"To make it easier for you to remember where things are, I'll just refer to everything from the vantage point of the 'Temple of Teleportation.' To the left is a road that leads to the shopping district. Straight ahead, on the other side of the fountain and the quest board, are several roads that lead to the player housing area. And then, off to the right, is a path that goes into the district for guilds and NPC housing. Which way did you ladies want to go first?"

Serah, wasting no time, snatched his hand and started heading to the left. "Shopping, of course Snow!"

"Of course," he said with a straight face, giving her a nod and keeping up with her. They'd made it nearly halfway there before they realized Lightning wasn't following them. Turning around, Serah yelled over to her.

"You comin' Light?" Serah looked worried, like perhaps Lightning was already done playing the game. With a world weary sigh, Lightning uncrossed her arms and strode over to the pair, passing them by completely and continuing down the road that supposedly lead to the shops. The couple seemed to come back to their senses and rushed to keep up.

"That's the spirit, Sis! Let's go!"

"Yeah!"

Lightning grunted lightheartedly at their cheerful attitude.

Suddenly, she realized that they would be going by the shops, and probably entering them. This was disconcerting since Serah had quite the penchant for spending a long time shopping. With an inward groan, Lightning gave another prayer to the Maker. This time it was that Serah wouldn't drag them into the shops for hours. She had a feeling that the Maker would be hearing a lot of prayers from her this night.

* * *

_**A/N: **Well guys, here it is! The second chapter! Sorry it's so short. Originally I had planned on fully exploring the town in this chapter but I don't know how long it will take for me to actually write that and it's already been so long since I updated. I felt bad, so I'm going to cut that into two parts and give you what I have right now. The next chapter will be exploring the places in the city – perhaps a little bland, but I'll do my best to make it interesting._

_Apologies if anybody was out of character – let me know if they were so I can correct it in later chapters._

_I want to address FateTheDefyer – You really should make an account so I can PM you back! Thank you so much, though, for the wonderful and helpful comment. I've taken everything you've said into consideration. You don't have to worry about the romance for quite a few more chapters yet, though. I hope you stick around!_

_As usual, I appreciate any comments, follows, and faves. Until next time -_

_k.u.r.e_


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